


Playing games

by mesiveloni



Category: Final Fantasy, Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: F/M, Language, Rating May Change, Reader-Insert, Romance, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-11
Updated: 2018-11-07
Packaged: 2019-07-29 12:24:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 4,906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16264154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mesiveloni/pseuds/mesiveloni
Summary: Happening before the events of FFVIII. As a member of disciplinary committee, Seifer sets out to correct certain Triple triad loving female reader...





	1. Chapter 1

I didn't think much of Seifer at first. Sure, he was pretty handsome, and we shared a few classes, but for a long while he was just pretty much the same as everyone else. We never really talked, and I felt satisfied with my own circle of friends. 

I loved Triple triad, ever since I had received my first cards, carefully and systematically expanding my deck. Cards were very useful converted, and helped a lot with practical side of my studies. But there was also the thrill as strategists waged war with their decks and minds.

As I got better, I yearned for more challenge. I came to know my limits and other skilled players. So eventually us most excited ones began to meet after hours. Sometimes someone came late to my room, telling the faculty about homework or borrowed book if they interfered.

One day in caféteria I received a new challenge against silver-haired girl, who wore an eyepatch. She gave only little difficulties, looking sour as I took my pick from her cards. Without a sound, she got up and left, not even glancing behind after her loss.

A week passed and I played against a tanned, tall and dark guy, that I had sometimes seen hanging with Seifer. He was even easier to tactically lead astray and then ambush his defenseless cards. He seemed bugged about his loss, asking for another game time and time again, persistent to win them back.

Late in the same evening, my door was knocked. I opened it casually, thinking it would be just one of my usual buddies asking for a few games. Instead I found myself face to face with Seifers ice-coloured eyes, looking down on mine. I could feel my smile dropping, realizing I was in trouble now.

He smirked. "Well, well. Not whom you expected, huh? The poor lad was caught in the act, heading straight to your door. Care to explain why he is the third person this week who came to borrow a book from you for tomorrow's test?"

He walked in without invitation, taking a good look around my room and sat confidently on my bed. I closed the door, not wanting the faculty peeking in even if it meant leaving Seifer in. The staff was way stricter than a single member of disciplinary committee could be, right?

Seifer had caught my deck of cards from the table, rolling them in his hands. "Is this why he was here," he asked with a low voice, hands mixing the cards. "Maybe," I answered and his frown seemed to brighten a bit. Perhaps I'd survive this after all.

"So... since your card pal didn't make it after all, why not have a game with me," he suggested with a smirk before continuing. "Perhaps we could add our own rule to the ordinary ones. Like, if you win, I won't report you in for breaking the rule about sneaking people in your room after curfew."    

"And should you win?" I began to worry. His eyes flashed and he smiled even more ferally. "I'll think of something," he answered and passed me my deck. As I mixed it, he pulled out his own.

I settled to sit crosslegged on the bed, facing him and he turned for more comfortable position as well. It felt odd, usually this was relaxing with my usual opponents, but this time made me so nervous... Then again it was no wonder, he could have me expelled for a while just with few simple words if he chose to turn me in. 

Luck favoured me, and he dealt the first card. I countered it with mine, keeping my back secured. He tried to fool me with a low value card, but I kept playing safe. After next cards it was clear I would win this game and he barely contained his disappointment.

"Two out of three?" He suggested hopefully, and I shook my head. "No. We agreed of this. I won, fair and square," I said and picked a card. "Fine," he huffed, picking up his cards and got up to leave without a word.

"You're off the hook. For now," he said grumpily before leaving my room, not even glancing back as he shut the door.


	2. Chapter 2

For few days I kept telling all my usual friends to avoid coming to my room to play after hours. I didn't want any more trouble with either faculty or disciplinary committee, since I had a weird feeling that I had become some kind of target. Who knew how long Seifer or someone else had been watching the traffic on my door, really.

I kept seeing Seifer on the classes and in the hallways. These days he seemed to be everywhere, or maybe I just hadn't registered his presence in the same way before. Sometimes he winked or flashed a smile, and in those moments I wondered what he would've really wanted from me if he had won our game few evenings ago.

I actually missed playing in the evening so much that I decided to go see if anyone was at the training center. The monsters were really not a problem thanks to bunch of my status ailment inducing magics, and there were few beasts daring to approach proximity of 'secret area' anyway.

I was lucky and got to play several games with Squall. We weren't exactly friends despite sharing a few classes, since he kept to himself so much. He was a good adversary though, and we both kept winning and losing in turns, before calling it quits. I wandered back to my room with a few new cards, having lost few of mine too and feeling tired after those matches.

Two evenings later I couldn't resist the urge to return to the training center. Even if Squall wouldn't be there, I was pretty sure that at least the Joker would be. I had barely made it out of the dormitory hallways, when I saw Seifer leaning casually to the wall by the entrance and looking my way.

"Where are you going?" He asked when I reached him. "Training center," I replied somewhat warily and kept walking. He followed. "To kick some fiend asses alone?" He raised his eyebrow knowingly. "As far as I know, training's not forbidden afterhours," I answered defensively and he smiled.

"No, it's not. Want some company?" He asked, blue eyes glinting as he stepped easily into my pace and clearly refusing to take no for an answer. Shit. I couldn't take him with me to the secret area, so I'd actually have to have few real encounters with monsters before I could tactically retreat back to my room.

Seifer seemed pretty much at home at battle, easily taking care of anything he wanted to defeat and watching my back in the same time. After beating few packs of grats, we ran into a T-rex. "Maybe we should withdraw," I hesitated but Seifer just chuckled. "No. Let's do this. We can leave after. We'll split the gil and the spoils," he said, not taking his eyes away for a moment of a beast.

I sighed, starting to spam my precious hard-earned blizzaras and waiting for a good moment to summon GF. Meanwhile Seifer kept the T-rex at bay with his gunblade. Usually in the very unlucky occasion when I ran into the giant beast, I just put it to sleep as fast as I could and ran away. However, after the long endlessly-seeming attacks, it went down with a last roar and it felt surprisingly good to slap a high five with Seifer.

"Feeling good, huh?" He asked smugly and I had to agree. "You seem ready go back to dorms," he said knowingly, seeing my exhaustion. I nodded, and we turned around after splitting the goods we found.

He insisted on accompanying me all the way to my room door, and it felt like that this time he was doing it out of chivalry. He stopped by the door.

"Thanks for the training company," I said. It was a little confusing, since I realized we had actually had pretty good time together. "You're welcome. You'd be pretty good fighter if you had more practise, you know," he said back, crossing his hands.

As I turned to open my door, I heard him inhale as he wanted to say something more. Stepping half in, I turned to see him struggling with himself and waited quietly if he'd say something. "Would you... wanna have a card game with me? Sometime tomorrow evening?" He asked and his eyes pierced mine.

"Uhh, yeah. Sure," I promised before thinking where and when we'd see each other. I hoped this wouldn't lead me into new trouble. He just smiled and simply said good night, already walking briskly away.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The best fic I've ever written so far?
> 
> What if.
> 
>  
> 
> Check it out. :D


	3. Chapter 3

I had really hard time concentrating next day. I felt fidgety in the classes, wondering if Seifer had really been serious about seeing me. As if my thoughts had somehow been some kind of a jinx, I didn't see him anywhere at all day.

I kept telling myself that this definitely wasn't a date. He just probably wanted to get his chance to win back his card and to salvage his pride. Just like all others. Then again, all others weren't tall blondes, with dark eyebrows and ice blue eyes under long, dark eyelashes... 

I had to mentally slap myself. The guy was practically an arrogant stalker, suddenly eager to supervise people coming and going from my room and even worse, likely somehow checking my movings in the Garden. Then again, was it just that I was being obviously predictible while trying to slightly bend the Garden rules?

Why on earth had I told him I'd play him again? Perhaps I really deserved to be punished for my stupidity. And yet little part of me thought of last night, us sharing those fights at the training center and working as a pretty flawless team. 

He had enjoyed the physical battle, even more against large T-rex, playing very impressive game of offense and defense with his gunblade. The way he had smiled exhilarated after emerging victorious... Perhaps we had something in common after all.

I was on the way to the caféteria to have a little evening snack, when somebody tapped me on my shoulder. Startled, I turned around to see who was it. "Oh, hi Squall," I breathed, feeling secretly a little disappointed seeing him and not Seifer.

"Wanna have a game with me again," he asked, serious as always. "Sure," I agreed, in hopes of getting one or two good cards from him and looked around where to settle comfortably.

In the end, I had to take a look at the time just not to miss my trip to the kitchen. Squall nearly smiled when I told him why I had to excuse myself. He really was a good challenge, and we had ended up switching a few cards again through the game.

After eating and getting back to my room, I still wondered that after all I hadn't seen Seifer all day. If he had wanted to really see me, he would've surely come by. He seemed to be constantly in my thoughts now, even if I tried to push them away. 

As I began to get ready to bed, I had to admit for myself that my feelings towards Seifer were conflicted at least.


	4. Chapter 4

I saw Seifer in the shared class next day, but he seemed annoyed and upset, barely keeping up with the teaching and avoiding my direction. After the class he stormed out of the door as soon as allowed.

I collected my books and wondered if he was okay. It wasn't that unusual for him to be restless, but few days ago he had seemed a lot friendlier to me and this sudden turn felt weird. I shrugged it off mentally, reminding myself again that if he wanted to catch up with me, he would.

In the afternoon I felt tired of thinking all the drama with Seifer, so I asked one of my friends out. We left to shop in Balamb and it was nice to get away for a while from Garden. The sea breeze seemed to lift both our spirits as we sat in the terrace of the café, enjoying sunshine and coffee while people passed us by in the street.

It was already dark outside when we returned to Garden, both a little happier than what we had been as we left. After a hug we separated to our own dormitory corridors and continued the way to our rooms.

Later I heard a knock on my door. I got a feeling that this time it wouldn't be any of my usual card-buddies. Carefully opening the door, I saw Seifer, with a slightly scary look in his eyes. He looked even taller than I remembered, standing there by the doorframe with a frown on his face.

"Hi," I said quietly, just to break the ice as he still stared at me. "What's up?" That seemed to work, as he seemed to give himself a mental shake, trying to figure out what to say out loud. "Um... well, how about that card game," he said, pulling a deck from his coat pocket as if he had just thought about it.  

"It's kinda late," I said quietly. So now it was a member of disciplinary committee breaking the rules himself. But he looked so surprised by my unexpected refusal that I knew for sure this wasn't now about game of cards but something else. 

"Could I talk to you then? Just five minutes?" He asked now less assertively and nodded towards my room. I turned to walk in from the door and he followed, closing the door after himself.

I sat to the chair by the work desk, and Seifer sat down on my bed. "So what's up," I repeated my question from before, even though I wanted to ask him what had happened day before yesterday. He raised his gaze from his hands to my eyes, shooting the most unexpected question, frown returning on his face. "What's between you and Squall Leonhart?"

"Me? And Squall?" Now this came out of the blue and he waited for an answer, hands in so tight fists that his knuckles were nearly white. "Nothing. We just play cards together," I told him and he seemed relieved.

I felt stunned. So this is what it was about? For real?

There was a lot unspoken words between us, and I knew he was likely easy to hurt despite his tough act. So instead of asking about the last weird days, I wanted to sate my curiosity.

"You never told me what you would've wanted if you had won our card game a week ago. What exactly did you have in mind?" I asked and I thought I saw his cheeks turning a little redder.

He got up, suddenly very interested to study a poster on the opposite wall, turning his face away while doing that. I followed him, stopping by his side. "Hmm?" I hummed and this time he faced me.

"I would've wanted a kiss," he confessed, looking serious and gauging carefully my reaction. I stepped closer to him, so close that I could touched him. "That might've been arrangeable," I breathed, suddenly light-headed with him being so close.

In a moment he had crossed the distance between us, lifting my chin as his lips crashed on mine. They tempted mine to move along as he eagerly explored my mouth. After a while, he slowed down and pulled away. "I wish I had known that earlier," he chuckled, still looking at me.

"I didn't really know that earlier either," I shrugged my shoulders and he laughed at my answer. His energy seemed contagious, making me smile too as I saw his gaze grow softer than ever before. "I need to go. I'll see you tomorrow again," he promised, a finger brushing my cheek lightly before he left.


	5. Chapter 5

Next day after class, Seifer hurried to my desk, sitting on the edge as I packed my things away. "Wanna go training outside Garden in the afternoon?" He asked with a smile.

"Just you and me, or...?" I asked, incredulous. "Yeah, just us," he nodded eagerly. "Okay," I promised after a moment of thinking. He was pretty capable fighter, even if I was slightly hesitant. Monsters inside Garden were well-known for me, but the risks were different outside.

"Great, meet me by the directory after classes," he said, clearly pleased and leaving the class. I saw two of his friends waiting outside. Tall, tanned guy and a silver-haired slim girl wearing an eyepatch. Guys exchanged a high five, whereas the girl shot daggers in her brief glance towards me before turning away.

They seemed somewhat familiar... right, I had played against them. Now that I thought about it, I had sometimes before seen them together with Seifer, even though I hadn't really registered them in such a way before. That gal sure didn't seem very happy about me, but then again, she didn't honestly seem like the type to like about anyone.

Once again I was amazed how good Seifer was at the field, fighting with his gunblade. He wasn't exactly top notch student in the classes, but in the battle he was shining. When he deemed that the grasslands didn't offer even nearly enough practise for us, he led us into the green forest.

He observed my way of fighting, every now and then offering insight how to improve my attack and defense. After one encounter he came to me, practically correcting my posture by hand and talking me through why it was better this way.

As he touched me, I couldn't help but remember the kiss last night. No matter how many times I had told myself it didn't mean anything yet, something about it had been really... I didn't even know what. It had been something. The tension grew in my body, and he smiled, taking it as me being tired and telling we'd do one more fight before taking a break.

Afterwards we walked a little further away from the site of last fight, finding a green opening in the forest. Sun filtered through the tree branches and we both sat down on the grass in a warm, sunny spot. "Hey Seifer? Why do you help me with my fighting?" I asked him, curious.

He frowned for a moment before seeing that I wasn't really complaining. "Why not?" He countered casually with his own question, pushing a few rogue strands of blonde hair away from his face. "No, really? I am not as good as you are and you need to... um... watch my back sometimes?" I was genuinely curious.

"You're pretty good with cards. That takes some strategy. Fighting is the same, learning to play on cue and then there remains just physique. Which you'd handle just fine with more practise. Besides, it is nice to spar with you," he shrugged, watching the treetops in a quite satisfied way and leaning back on his hands.

"Likewise," I said and found myself smiling, stealing a glance at him as he just did the same, hastily turning my eyes away as he mirrored the gesture. Great, now I had to somehow calm the butterflies in my stomach. "Wanna get going again?" I asked and he agreed. When we were in the battle, things never got awkward. 

We returned to Garden after some more fighting, sweaty and tired. Yet he asked if I wanted to go get a shower, get changed and then meet him to walk together for evening dinner at caféteria. I nodded, since I would have done the same anyway on my own.

He was waiting for me in the dormitory hall, even though I thought I had been quick. The way his face brightened for a while was warming my heart.

It was getting easier to spend time together, to talk about things like friends did. Except that I was beginning to see behind that Seifer who tried to be always confident and tough, seemingly unreachable. He was quite a loner, covering his soft sides but he had some, very well hidden away.

I liked his energy and passion. When he was into something, he was ready to dive into it head first. And even though he tried hard to cover his feelings, some always seemed to seep through.

He was eating his dessert on the side of the small table, and his knee was touching mine. I didn't even know if he had noticed and I didn't want to be the first to pull mine away.

"Wanna play some cards tomorrow with me," slipped out of my mouth before I thought about it. But he nodded and smiled, and a little part of me was pretty happy about it.  
  


	6. Chapter 6

I woke up into a persistent knocking on the door. It was saturday, and I liked sleeping late. Like... really late. When it was clear that the person behind the door just wasn't about to give up, I got up, wrapping myself in a blanket and ready to shoot that person behind the door.

When I pulled it open, I saw Seifer leaning to the doorframe with the most arrogant smirk of his. "Good morning," he said with honey-dripping voice, taking in my outfit or rather lack of it. I groaned, trying to pull the door shut in front of his face. It was way too early for me to deal with people like that.

Too bad he was too fast to push his leg between the door. "Tch, is that any way to treat a guest, especially when you asked me over," he pretended hurt and falling dramatically on his back over the bed.

"Whaaat?" I blurted. I hadn't most certainly asked him over. Clarifying my memory last night, I thought I had just... "You wanted to play with me," he winked sarcastically and my confusion turned into horror. "But..." I tried to say. "I didn't..."

"Well, you didn't specify. So you might as well get up," he said, lifting his other leg over his knee. "Seifer, I..." I still tried to get a hold over situation. "Feeling shy? Okay, I will wait outside for you to get dressed. You have 30 minutes," he announced smugly, his gaze brushing over me.

"Or...?" I asked, just to see what he'd say. Undoubtedly he'd break my door with this insane mindset he was in now. "Or I might have to help you," he smiled with an evil grin as he got up and walked to the door. I clutched the blanket even tighter around me as he let himself out.

My heart was left pounding, and I began to hurry, trying to think of an outfit for a day. What exactly did he have on his mind? A little traitorous part of me wondered how far he would have been ready to go, 'helping' me. That thought was scary... and exciting.

Exactly thirty minutes later, I heard a knock. Still putting on my earrings, I opened. He stood there, few rogue blonde strands trying to escape from his hair. "Good, you are ready... mostly," he said, eyes estimating me. Did he sound a little disappointed?

"Allow me to do that," he snatched the other earring from my hand and slipped it on after brushing my hair away. "Thank you," I replied, trying to contain my cool. His touch had nearly made me shiver.

"You're welcome. Now, let's go," he nodded. "Wait, we are going somewhere?" I asked, feeling confused. "Yeah, I made a reservation for late lunch. Although I suspect it will be breakfast for you," he laughed, grabbing my hand in his own.

He led us to the garages, picking up a red vehicle and opening the door for me. After shutting the door after me, he walked around to settle himself in, expertly starting the car and driving us out.

It was a rare treat to get a car ride to Balamb, and even if he was driving fast, he was doing it well. It was a flawless day, sun shining warmly and sea glittering in the distance. After my initial surprise, I understood that today Seifer was also on his most gentlemanly behaviour. It almost felt like... this was a real date?

We walked together to the Balamb hotel and instead of the rooms, he guided me to a terrace facing the sea. There was a table set for two, adorned with a buoquet of fresh flowers. As he helped me with the chair, I was beginning to see a new side of him. Seifer had very nice manners and he knew how to be charming... when he wanted to.

The waiter showed to give us the menus, pouring sparkling water to the glasses. As if to confirm my thoughts, Seifer told me to order anything I'd like, today would be his treat.

The sun was so warm that he shed his jacket, revealing the dark blue vest and his bare musclesome arms. My mouth felt suddenly dry, and I had to take a sip of water before being capable to answer to patient waiter by our side.

"...So. This was not quite what I'd expected, when I challenged you yesterday with that card game," I smiled to Seifer between the bites of famous signature dish of Balamb on my plate. "Are you disappointed," he frowned playfully across the table and his expression made me laugh.

"Not a single bit," I admitted and his face relaxed back into a smile of his own. "Although I'm looking forward for that game," I winked, feeling a little braver. This was definitely starting to feel like a date. "We'll get to it later," he promised.

And we did. After the peaceful lunch, he took again my hand into his and we walked to the pier. He had taken a mystery bag from the hotel and at the pier he opened it to spread the huge thick blanket at the wood planks, bleached by the exposure of sun and salt water. As I looked to the water, I could occasionally spot shadows of the fish swimming.

"This is the time and place I wanted for a perfect game," Seifer announced self-assertively, as he sat down and I did the same on the opposite, mindful that my plaid skirt wouldn't rise too high. "You're absolutely right. But don't think that I will take it any easier against you, even if you have been treating me like a princess here," I warned him.

"I wouldn't dream of it," he replied without slightest hesitation, blue eyes shining with the challenge and excitement. The first game was on.

He had practised and gotten a few pretty good cards. Experience helped me through the few tight matches, and as I kept winning I began to see frustration grow in Seifer, even though he tried to cover it. "Dammit, you're good," he sighed, as I still managed to make the game end in draw.

"This is how I feel when I'm in the battle with you," I revealed and he looked surprised. "I mean, you seem undefeatable," I confessed. "I'm not," he disagreed, trying to keep sulking even though he was pleased. "Maybe not, but that's just how it feels like," I shrugged my shoulders.

Perhaps it was a good time to take a break from cards. "Thanks for a lovely day. I never thought I'd be here like this... with you," I told him, stretching my feet and suddenly feeling shy under his gaze. The look in his eyes was dark, and I suddenly wished we had been somewhere more private. "You're welcome," he said, turning his eyes to the watery horizon.

"Did you really intend to turn me in for breaking the curfew rules?" I asked him. I had been thinking about this for quite a while. It hadn't felt like a coincidense that I had played with Seifers friends before and not once afterwards.

When I looked at him, he kept staring dreamily at the sea. "At first I did. After observing the traffic at your door for few weeks and occasionally catching some really terrible liars... I began to be curious. And when I caught that poor fella at your door, I felt... envious for that guy. I couldn't understand it, so I wanted to see you little more," he explained and there was a slight blush on his cheeks, eyes still locked in the waves.

"What I found out was that you are fun to be around. You've been sparring with me. And you seem to take me as I am. Not just as a member of disciplinary committee or something else," he continued and finally glanced at me.

I didn't even know what to say after this. But I smiled to him, grabbing his hand on mine after moving closer to his side. He smiled back with quiet agreement, seemingly happy. "Wanna go get some ice cream? I'm dying of thirst," he asked.

I nodded and he pulled me up, reaching to gather the blanket. Afterwards he wrapped his hand casually around my waist, making my heart beat a little faster again.

I was beginning to hope this day wouldn't end.


End file.
